mixtape maestro (2.0)

Flooded with references to such ’90′s-teen fads/ treasures as overalls with “one shoulder strap swingin’”, Nickelodeon’s Doug, head-to-toe Tommy Hilfiger sportage and high-top fades, “Walmart”, from Akron, Ohio rapper (slash-blogger) Shawn Collins (aka “The Batman of Rap”), offers plenty of “I REMEMBER THAT”-inducing nostalgia for anyone who took the time to memorize all the words to Coolio’s “Gangsta’s Paradise” during it’s seemingly eternal radio reign.

Over a backing track that swings from minimalist boom-bap on the verses to sing-songy bubblegum for the hook, Collins’ every-man flow indulges in the “golden” days’ of his youth. Some of the recalled memories might be a little sad (back then, the ladies gave him no play) and some are just downright embarrassing (at one point, he admits to having a bowl-cut), but you couldn’t tell him he wasn’t fly, with his paint-chipped No Limit chain, beloved Tamagotchi pet and Space Jam soundtrack-backed hoop-shooting sessions.

Part “I Love The 90″‘s in rap form, part diss to that one hater chick who “said I wasn’t quite her type” (“Now she works at a Walmart,” he sneer-chimes in the hook), the chuckles-worthy “Walmart” will surely be appreciated by anyone who spent their post-school day afternoons faithfully tuned in to what alien creature those heroic Power Rangers would have to face next.

DL: “Walmart” (alt)